The present invention relates generally to transplanting devices and assemblies which include such devices.
The invention more particularly relates to a system for use in the merchandising of small plants, as for example in greenhouses.
A currently typical manner of distributing small seedlings or plants, of the horticultural or agricultural variety, involves the use of a shallow plastic tray having a bottom and sidewalls extending upwardly from the bottom. A plurality of individual or separable containers, each having bottom and sidewalls, are positioned in the tray with the individual container bottoms resting on the bottom of the tray. Each of the individual containers is thus adapted to be filled with growing medium and a seed or seeds. A retail customer may then purchase either one or a plurality of such individual containers and will ultimately remove the contents for transplanting.
Since the individual containers are complete in and of themselves with a bottom wall, the necessary problems of such containers exist, such as J-rooting, drainage of water, etc. In addition to the plant growth problems inherent in such a system, it should be apparent that such a prior art system does not lend itself to efficient shipping or storage. The ultimate user, such as greenhouse operator or retailer, must handle a plurality of different items to achieve his desired objective of growing and efficiently displaying his plants. The trays of the prior art, while apparently nestable amongst themselves, cannot efficiently be shipped or stored with the plant containers therein. Thus, the greenhouse operator must handle the trays as well as the individual containers, both to fill them and to place them within the trays or flats.
As further background to this invention, broad reference is made to the planting system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,832. While certain features of the system described in that patent, namely the use of a transplanting frame including ribs which is temporarily enclosed by a plastic sleeve placed over the ribs so that the bottom edge of the sleeve is spaced upwardly from the bottom wall of the frame, may be utilized by this invention. The patent does not include the stackability of assemblies or subassemblies reflected in this invention.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a completely nestable and stackable transplanting system for use in greenhouses or the like.
A further object is to provide a transplanting assembly which includes a support tray particularly designed to accommodate a plurality of interconnected sleeves which form the walls for a container which container also may include transplanting frames wherein the assemblies themselves as well as the individual parts and subassemblies are all nestable and stackable.
Another object is to provide a system which expedites the filling of assemblies of transplantable containers by providing readily removable transplant frames in sleeves preassociated with the nestable and stackable trays.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a transplant system incorporating a low-cost, engineered support tray whch permits a plurality of filled containers to be carried thereon so that the complete assemblies can be efficiently handled.
In order to satisfy the above objects and advantages, the preferred embodiments of the invention include a tray-like support element having sidewalls which diverge upwardly and inwardly from an open base to a grid-like upper structure. The upper structure is formed to include a plurality of longitudinal and laterally directed walls creating a plurality of apertutres. The grid walls will be of a predetermined vertical dimension which is substantially less than the overall vertical dimension defined from the top of the grid to the open base of the tray.
A further aspect of the invention is the use of a web of thin plastic material formed to include a plurality of tapered sleeves. The apertures will receive the sleeves so that the top edges of the sleeves rest on the top surface of the grid structure with the lower regions of the sleeves supported freely from the grid. Complementary tapered transplanting frames will also preferably be associated with the tapered sleeves. The overall vertical dimension of the sleeve and frame is less than the overall vertical dimension of the tray but substantially greater than the vertical dimension of the grid wall portions so that when the assemblies are positioned in nesting arrangement the uppermost sleeve is telescoped within but spaced from a lowermost sleeve and frame combination. The lower edge of the grid in an upper assembly rests on the upper edge of the grid in a lower assembly permitting the two assemblies to be closely nested in nonjamming relationship relative to one another. Of course, it should be understood that many variations of this basic invention can be devised and one of the aspects of the invention is also the fact that any subcombination or individual elements of the above assembly can also be nonjammingly nested with similar subcombinations or individual elements.
Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent upon perusal of the hereinafter following detailed description read in conjunction with the drawings.